Confidence!! I look at Jordan Hill's college and summer league highlights and can't help but think that this kid is playing inside of a shell. His potential is obviously limitless due to his great size(could use some more EL BEEs) and amazing athleticism. I saw on an earlier thread someone mentioning his quickness as what sets him apart, and i agree...in part. When your thrown into a new situation with bigger tougher guys than you, its easy to lose some confidence(A.B. admitted to questioning whether or not he could play at this level his rookie year) and revert back to doing what you can count on. Jordan Hill can easily count on dunking and hook shots. He gets in the post and immediately looks for that hook(which was pretty dang consistent), but you hardly see players like Bosh and Amare playing the entire game on the offensive end with their backs to the basket. Hill has the size and skill to face up to his man and shoot over the top of them or make a drive to the basket, and he tried to face up a few times as a last resort, and even drove to the basket with the spin about once a game, but its that face-up and quick turn-around jumper(patented by KG) that i feel really sets great pf's above the rest. Hill showed flashes of his turnaround in summer league and college, and there is no reason that he couldnt be using it in the NBA(no one is going to block it), but his confidence is not where it needs to be at to trust in his skills and not just his size/athleticism. If you want proof of this look no further than his jump shot this past season. Hill was drafted as a big man with good midrange game, but after the whole knicks situation his confidence took a toll and his midrange all but disapeared. Yes he was still shooting it, but not with confidence, Big Difference! Idk, this is my 2 cents, i really do feel like this kid has a rediculous amount of potential and next season could be his coming out party. If you feel like there is something else Hill really needs to work on this offseason let me hear it. PLEASE contribute to a thread that doesnt have the B*** word in it :grin: Oh, and here's a video containing clips of Hill using his quickness and turnaround like i hope to see next year, thanks for reading.. Music has strong language <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BOaBLaC1Y20&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BOaBLaC1Y20&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
100% agree. I find myself hoping that a Bosh trade does not go through so we can hold onto this guy... I LOVE having Kyle, Chase and Jordan off the bench. AWESOME!!!
Nice post OP. I have to agree with you on all points but must emphasize that the confidence will come from playing time. He needs to be out on the court WITH the ball in his hand. Run some sets through this kid, consistently and he will continue to flourish. While he is scrappy and hustles, I think he needs to be the focal point of the offense (at least for a few min/game) in order for his game to really develop. Put-back dunks and nice rebounds are good for ESPN, but the real 1st round value comes from versatility and an ability to find your own shot.
Exactly, I know the more this kid plays the more confidence will follow. I'm sure after a full summer with the coaches he'll be given more of a chance to have an offensive effect.
I think we're on the minority on this. I don't know how people can look at Hill and not see a star in the making, but they do. The guy's a legit big, has pretty good athleticism and speed, isn't afraid to mix it up, has some shot-blocking skiils and even a jumper. He is bonafide lottery prospect IMHO, we're pretty lucky to get him.
He needs to work on his romanian deadlifts which mimics the posting down movement and does wonders for your b-game
It may be that he was a rookie, but Hill needs to tell himself he is DA MAN when he is in the paint. In a humble way, develop an attitude that he is not to be messed with, a mean streak. He has the tools to be real good.
LOL he never lacked in confidence when he plays ball I'll tell you that. That's why I've always said that actually one his weaknesses is his passing ability and vision.
Agree with OP. He'll benefit from practice. There's no reason he can't be every bit the scoring threat Carl was for us.
What's so funny? Passing ability? He looked pretty solid from a sharing standpoint last year. I believe he made better reads than Carl, in fact...
I think it was a combination of confidence, rust, and being a rookie. My confidence would be wrecked if I couldn't get any PT for the Knickbocker's
We've got this guy for three more years on his rookie contracts. Bosh is going to take really big $$. Sure, we can try and win this year, but why? The future is looking like a sure thing - why gamble? If we're going to pay somebody big, big $$, let's spend it on an SF (Joe Johnson?), or a Chris Paul. Imagine where we could be a year from now, with Hill having an extra year, getting Johnson, plus a decent player with the #14, plus bringing Llull over, signing a decent player to the MLE, not to mention what else we can do in the trade market. I think we can be pretty good at the 4/5 without Bosh.
I am trending towards your thoughts about perhaps not making drastic moves which would undercut our promising future. Still, we need a hard ass center. Can we trade for Emeka or Perkins? I think those two would fit our needs better than Bosh.
Some of you guys overrate the hell out of this kid. Yes, I think he will be a serviceable NBA player and maybe even an above average starter but I just don't see all these skills or this amazing athleticism. He's an above average athlete for a post player but nothing special. His strength is poor (and despite what people want to believe weak players don't get much stronger no matter how much weight room time they get) and his hands are horrible. I'm sure he can improve on both of those things but they will never be strengths. Let's hope he can be a backup to Scola for a few years and then replace Scola's production down the road. He's going to be Chris Bosh or Amare or whoever. He will be a solid role player.
Per 36 minutes he averaged: 14.2 Pts 11.0 Rebs 1.2 Blocks 15.7 PER Granted that's extrapolating from just 16 minutes a game, but it does show he was very productive. And even more impressive, that was without using hardly any of the offensive skillset that he clearly had as a player at Arizona. Once he starts incorporating those nice spin moves and midrange game, he could be a beast. And just for giggles, that per minute production was better or on par with both of Bosh's first two years. Not saying he's going to be Bosh, far from it, but dude has some skills and there is reason to be excited.
If Jordan Hill was to be coached by Hakeem we might even have Hakeem #2 on our team, this boy has untapped potential!!!
